Hello,
Given my recent experience with new hardware and the growing lack of
support for os/2, I have been looking at solutions that employ virtual
machines. The preferred configuration I have in mind is Linux as the host
OS with os/2 running in a virtual machine.
My requirements are:
1. Integrated mouse - no need to select or deselect mouse capture
2. Access to the host filesystem
3. Network
4. Clipboard
5. Sound
Is this possible?

I have experimented with a few VMs with no success so far. Parallels
(won't install, missing components), VirtualBox (no integration), VMware
(won't install os/2), Xen (does not see the os/2 install disk as bootable).
I even tried VirtualPC on Windows. It ran the installation disk, but
claimed the result was unbootable :-(.

:> Hello,
:> Given my recent experience with new hardware and the growing lack of
:> support for os/2, I have been looking at solutions that employ virtual
:> machines. The preferred configuration I have in mind is Linux as the
host
:> OS with os/2 running in a virtual machine.
:> My requirements are:
:> 1. Integrated mouse - no need to select or deselect mouse capture
:> 2. Access to the host filesystem
:> 3. Network
:> 4. Clipboard
:> 5. Sound
:> Is this possible?
:>
:> I have experimented with a few VMs with no success so far. Parallels
:> (won't install, missing components), VirtualBox (no integration), VMware
:> (won't install os/2), Xen (does not see the os/2 install disk as
bootable).
:> I even tried VirtualPC on Windows. It ran the installation disk, but
:> claimed the result was unbootable :-(.
:>
:> --
:> jmm (hyphen) list (at) sohnen-moe (dot) com
:> (Remove .AXSPAMGN for email)

If you're committed to Linux, I have no advice.

This is written from a Warp 4.52 install ported wholesale from my old PC,
now turned off, to Parallels 2.5 running on Mac OSX 10.5.4.

Early versions of Parallels did not work for me, but this one is great, and
I've seen no reason to upgrade to Parallels 3.0.

1-4 of your requirements work on this VM. 1-5 work on a fresh install of
4.52. I suspect something in config.sys, but haven't bothered to figure it
out. Actually, it's kind of nice to have the VM silent. The Mac can
provide all the sound I need!

Parallels has this. Works with eCS 1.2R at least.
[color=blue]
> 2. Access to the host filesystem[/color]

Not directly
[color=blue]
> 3. Network[/color]

Yes
[color=blue]
> 4. Clipboard[/color]

Yes
[color=blue]
> 5. Sound[/color]

Not perfect. When running OS/2 in a VM session, when OS/2 makes a sound Parallels launches the Linux volume control to the MAX. Both with UniAudio and the driver that was on the Parallels tools ISO
file. I think it is a Parallels bug while running OS/2. Other operating systems in a Parallels VM session do not do this.
[color=blue]
> Is this possible?[/color]

On Tue, 9 Sep 2008 18:45:43 UTC, Jim Moe
<jmm-list.AXSPAMGN@sohnen-moe.com> wrote:
[color=blue]
> Hello,
> Given my recent experience with new hardware and the growing lack of
> support for os/2, I have been looking at solutions that employ virtual
> machines. The preferred configuration I have in mind is Linux as the host
> OS with os/2 running in a virtual machine.
> My requirements are:
> 1. Integrated mouse - no need to select or deselect mouse capture
> 2. Access to the host filesystem
> 3. Network
> 4. Clipboard
> 5. Sound
> Is this possible?
>
> I have experimented with a few VMs with no success so far. Parallels
> (won't install, missing components), VirtualBox (no integration), VMware
> (won't install os/2), Xen (does not see the os/2 install disk as bootable).
> I even tried VirtualPC on Windows. It ran the installation disk, but
> claimed the result was unbootable :-(.
>[/color]

You might want to take a look at my Warpstock presentations.
[url]http://www.warpstock.org/filemgmt/viewcat.php?cid=21[/url]

On 09/10/08 11:10 am, Michael Lueck wrote:[color=blue]
>[color=green]
>> Parallels (won't install, missing components),[/color]
>
> We are having good success with Parallels. In fact, we migrated our OS/2 preload into such a configuration. Please see this link:
>[/color]
Any suggestions for getting Parallels support to respond to support
requests? I purchased a license but can get no support, at least not by
email or their support page.

Jim Moe wrote:[color=blue]
> Any suggestions for getting Parallels support to respond to support
> requests?[/color]

I have heard that the developers lurk in the forum. I have seen evidence of this as I report bugs, such as one that was introduced in the 2222 build, and in 2232 that bug was fixed. No one ever
responded to my post, but can not argue with a fixed bug! :-)

Best is to speak up.

For example, I have hopes that a problem with eCS 1.2R and audio driver volume will get fixed the same way.

Make sure to post to the correct group. It is frustrating when Mac users hijack a thread in the Lin/Win group.

-> On Thu, 25 Sep 2008 10:00:53 -0700, Jim Moe wrote:
->
-> :> Any suggestions for getting Parallels support to respond to support
-> :> requests? I purchased a license but can get no support, at least not by
-> :> email or their support page.
->
-> if you look in the Parallels forums, you will find that this is a universal
-> complaint ...
->
-> Peter

And they up and dumped OS/2 without a word when they changed the name
from SVISTA to Parallels. So it doesn't surprise me that they are
treating their users that way. I have a license for the Mac
Parallels. I've never had to ask for help though. But they keep
sending me upgrade notices. For my limited use (actually my kids as
I'm not a fan of OS X) I don't see much need to upgrade.

On 09/10/08 11:10 am, Michael Lueck wrote:[color=blue]
>[color=green]
>> My requirements are:
>> 1. Integrated mouse - no need to select or deselect mouse capture[/color]
>
> Parallels has this. Works with eCS 1.2R at least.
>[/color]
Unfortunately, not for me.
I have v2.2.2234 installed on opensuse v10.2. Starting the VM targeted
for os/2 (either v4.5 or ecs 1.2) freezes linux solid. Needs a hard reset.
How do you have your system setup to successfully run parallels and
install os/2 as a guest?

Not really an answer to your question but I have one of my OS/2 systems running
now as a VM on VirtualBox 2.0.2 on Centos5.2. It only has one processor
available because VirtualBox doesn't do SMP (yet) but so far I'm quite pleased
with how easy it was to convert - I defined a new 160GB virtual disk and then
attached the one that used to boot OS/2 natively to a blank VM and used a Linux
rescue CD boted as a VM to dd the entire disk from the real one to the native
one then rebooted with only the virtual one attached. Came up with SNAP graphics
which automatically detected the change of graphics card and just worked without
any effort.

Problems I still have to address - the VB VM seems to use 100% of one of my quad
core engines even when OS/2 is completely idle. Sound is not yet working
properly because I have it using SB16 emulation and I probably need to tell it
to use AC97 then install uniaud. System sounds work using the SB16 but
mplayer/warpmedia say that it won't handle 48KHz audio and give up.

Trevor Hemsley wrote:
[color=blue]
> On Sat, 27 Sep 2008 03:48:17 UTC in comp.os.os2.apps, Jim Moe
> <jmm-list.AXSPAMGN@sohnen-moe.com> wrote:
>[color=green]
>> On 09/10/08 11:10 am, Michael Lueck wrote:[color=darkred]
>> >
>> >> My requirements are:
>> >> 1. Integrated mouse - no need to select or deselect mouse capture
>> >
>> > Parallels has this. Works with eCS 1.2R at least.
>> >[/color]
>> Unfortunately, not for me.
>> I have v2.2.2234 installed on opensuse v10.2. Starting the VM targeted
>> for os/2 (either v4.5 or ecs 1.2) freezes linux solid. Needs a hard
>> reset.
>> How do you have your system setup to successfully run parallels and
>> install os/2 as a guest?[/color]
>
> Not really an answer to your question but I have one of my OS/2 systems
> running now as a VM on VirtualBox 2.0.2 on Centos5.2. It only has one
> processor available because VirtualBox doesn't do SMP (yet) but so far I'm
> quite pleased with how easy it was to convert - I defined a new 160GB
> virtual disk and then attached the one that used to boot OS/2 natively to
> a blank VM and used a Linux
> rescue CD boted as a VM to dd the entire disk from the real one to the
> native one then rebooted with only the virtual one attached. Came up with
> SNAP graphics which automatically detected the change of graphics card and
> just worked without any effort.
>
> Problems I still have to address - the VB VM seems to use 100% of one of
> my quad core engines even when OS/2 is completely idle. Sound is not yet
> working properly because I have it using SB16 emulation and I probably
> need to tell it to use AC97 then install uniaud. System sounds work using
> the SB16 but mplayer/warpmedia say that it won't handle 48KHz audio and
> give up.[/color]

Old age is catching up with me, I guess, so let me see if I read this right.

Create a new VM with a new virtual disk. Attach the existing OS/2 boot
drive to that VM, then boot the still empty VM with a Linux rescue CD -
that could probably be about any rescue or live version - and dd the old
OS/2 drive to the VMs virtual disk. Remove the CD and boot the VM - done!

Any issue with the size of the real disk vs. the virtual disk you just
created?

2232 was/is a test release needed to do the compile part of the Parallels install on Ubuntu 8.04.

I had not heard of 2234 yet.

eCS 1.2R is solid with my configuration, however Warp 4 is giving me quite a fight to get it installed. Trap 0008's, Trap 000D's, etc... With eCS 1.2R always being so well behaved, I am quite shocked
that Warp 4 is fighting so.

The most recent attempt (I am getting progressively less evasive with changing the original bootable disks) with Warp 4 I:

1) Transfered the DSK files for the boot process to the Linux filesystem, renamed them from .DSK to .FDD, and they work beautifully as Parallels FDD images!
2) I updated the IBM1S506.ADD and IBMIDECD.FLT to the version that eCS 1.2R installed, removed un-needed drivers from CONFIG.SYS, Added COPYFROMFLOPPY=1, and commented out the extra snoopers in the
SNOOP.LST file. (I booted an eCS 1.2R VM session, mounted the FDD image, and found that I can make changes to the FDD images that are saved to the FDD file!)
3) I created an ISO of the Warp 4 CD, dd if=/dev/scd1 of=Warp4.ISO bs=2048
4) I tried booting and it traps while booting the FDD images - I seem to recall it traps while on what IBM called disk_2.

On 09/28/08 05:01 am, Michael Lueck wrote:[color=blue][color=green]
>> Unfortunately, not for me.
>> I have v2.2.2234 installed on opensuse v10.2. Starting the VM targeted
>> for os/2 (either v4.5 or ecs 1.2) freezes linux solid.[/color]
>
> 2232 or 2234?
>[/color]
2234. I finally got a response to my support request. It pointed me to
the download for that version.
It is worse than 2222. *All* attempts to start a VM freeze linux.
In my limited experience with linux, Parallels is the only program that
has actually taken down the OS itself.

Michael Lueck wrote:[color=blue]
> I had not heard of 2234 yet.[/color]

OK, I found the link to the test version of 2234. Downloaded the .deb package, purged the 2232 from the box, installed 2234, parallels-config, etc... same crash.
[color=blue]
> 4) I tried booting and it traps while booting the FDD images - I seem to
> recall it traps while on what IBM called disk_2.[/color]

I recalled wrong. It crashes the first time booting from the HDD. Makes it through the blue text mode of the install successfully.

Here is a link to the Parallels support ticket, including screen capture of the trap screen:
[url]http://forum.parallels.com/showthread.php?t=30139[/url]

Like I said above, detailed reports such as this, "someone" reads them as bugs get fixed even if no one ever responds to the posting.

On Sat, 27 Sep 2008 19:17:28 UTC in comp.os.os2.apps, Will Honea
<whonea@yahoo.com> wrote:
[color=blue]
> Create a new VM with a new virtual disk. Attach the existing OS/2 boot
> drive to that VM, then boot the still empty VM with a Linux rescue CD -
> that could probably be about any rescue or live version - and dd the old
> OS/2 drive to the VMs virtual disk. Remove the CD and boot the VM - done!
>
> Any issue with the size of the real disk vs. the virtual disk you just
> created?[/color]

The virtual disk has to be as large or larger than the real thing obviously.
Otherwise you have the procedure correct. You have to use a command to attach
the old disk something like:

Trevor Hemsley wrote:
[color=blue]
> The virtual disk has to be as large or larger than the real thing
> obviously. Otherwise you have the procedure correct. You have to use a
> command to attach the old disk something like:
>
> VBoxManage internalcommands createrawvmdk -f filename.vmdk -rawdisk
> /dev/hde
>
> and then add that .vmdk file to the new VM.
>
> I had to add commands to /etc/rc.local to change the group ownership of
> /dev/hde to vboxusers and to give group write access or the permissions
> were lost on each Linux reboot.[/color]

According to the help, this can also be done with partitions as well as full
disks - any experience? I'd sure like to clean up my laptop but I'm stuck
with a single drive at the moment so the real OS/2 is on an extended
partition. I'd go the USB adapter route for a second drive, but that
avenue requires too many chicken necks and incantations to be reliable (now
it works, now it doesn't - rool the dice).

--
Will Honea
** Posted from [url]http://www.teranews.com[/url] **

09-30-2008, 07:57 PM

unix

Re: Viirtual machines and os/2

On Tue, 30 Sep 2008 19:36:58 UTC in comp.os.os2.apps, Will Honea
<whonea@yahoo.com> wrote:
[color=blue]
> Trevor Hemsley wrote:
>[color=green]
> > The virtual disk has to be as large or larger than the real thing
> > obviously. Otherwise you have the procedure correct. You have to use a
> > command to attach the old disk something like:
> >
> > VBoxManage internalcommands createrawvmdk -f filename.vmdk -rawdisk
> > /dev/hde
> >
> > and then add that .vmdk file to the new VM.
> >
> > I had to add commands to /etc/rc.local to change the group ownership of
> > /dev/hde to vboxusers and to give group write access or the permissions
> > were lost on each Linux reboot.[/color]
>
> According to the help, this can also be done with partitions as well as full
> disks - any experience? I'd sure like to clean up my laptop but I'm stuck
> with a single drive at the moment so the real OS/2 is on an extended
> partition. I'd go the USB adapter route for a second drive, but that
> avenue requires too many chicken necks and incantations to be reliable (now
> it works, now it doesn't - rool the dice).[/color]

You can do it with partitions but I have no idea if they'd be bootable. The
advantage of the whole disk route was that boot manager came up as normal inside
the VM. Can but try I suppose :-) I just wanted to make use of 4GB RAM that I
got on a mis-price sale and I knew that OS/2 would not use it all - it was
having trouble using up all of the 2GB it had let alone using another 4GB but I
knew that Linux would be more than happy with it.

Running OS/2 in a VirtualBox VM requires that you have a processor with hardware
virtualization capability - which rules out everything except Core2Duos and
Xeons and recent AMD chips. And some of those don't have VT extensions.

Trevor Hemsley wrote:
[color=blue]
> You can do it with partitions but I have no idea if they'd be bootable.
> The advantage of the whole disk route was that boot manager came up as
> normal inside the VM. Can but try I suppose :-) I just wanted to make use
> of 4GB RAM that I got on a mis-price sale and I knew that OS/2 would not
> use it all - it was having trouble using up all of the 2GB it had let
> alone using another 4GB but I knew that Linux would be more than happy
> with it.
>
> Running OS/2 in a VirtualBox VM requires that you have a processor with
> hardware virtualization capability - which rules out everything except
> Core2Duos and Xeons and recent AMD chips. And some of those don't have VT
> extensions.[/color]

Should be no problem IF OS/2 is on a primary partition as that uses
BIOS-style vectoring to the active primary with no recourse to BM.
Fortunately, I have an Athlon 64x2 with - supposedly - the appropriate
hardware virtualization flags set so I'll mess around with a quicky install
to a small drive and see what happens. The only concern I have is that the
Lenovo (IBM) BIOS has no provision for controlling the activation of the
virtualization setting so I may be SOL anyway. Worth a try - I'll put it
on the to-do list <g>.

--
Will Honea
** Posted from [url]http://www.teranews.com[/url] **

10-31-2008, 11:34 PM

unix

Re: Viirtual machines and os/2

Peter Wadsack schrieb:
[color=blue]
>
> This is written from a Warp 4.52 install ported wholesale from my old PC,
> now turned off, to Parallels 2.5 running on Mac OSX 10.5.4.
>
> Early versions of Parallels did not work for me, but this one is great, and
> I've seen no reason to upgrade to Parallels 3.0.
>
> 1-4 of your requirements work on this VM. 1-5 work on a fresh install of
> 4.52. I suspect something in config.sys, but haven't bothered to figure it
> out. Actually, it's kind of nice to have the VM silent. The Mac can
> provide all the sound I need!
>
> Peter
>
> */------------------------------------------------------
> Peter Wadsack <wadsackREMOVE@attglobal.net>
> ------------------------------------------------------*/
>
> and replace "attglobal" by "tds"
>
>[/color]

Dear Peter,

Maybe you can help me: on my MACBOOK, Leopard 10.5.5, Parallels 3.0, I
have installed WARP 4.0, Fixpack 15 and also Firefox 3.03.
With the Firefox I?m not able to connect me to the Internet (under the
OS/2-Windows, I have connection, due PING is running).
Do you have any idea concerning this ?